An incredible collection of work by El Kinto – a short-lived but crucially important group in the Uruguay rock scene of the late 60s – finally given their due in this overstuffed deluxe CD package! El Kinto were a seminal link between the beat group sounds of the earlier South American scene, and some of the headier, tripper work to come in the psychedelic years – and their music was an unusual blend of local roots and more ambitious rock – served up in styles that were somewhat different than the candombe music of other artists on the scene. Core rock instrumentation was often augmented by a bit of Latin percussion – used in a way that created a nicely earthy feel at the bottom of most of the tunes, which was in contrast to the cleaner, but also somewhat spare use of guitars on the top. There's a criss-crossing sensibility here that's not unlike Brazilian Tropicalia at times – although clearly not as politically motivated, nor as culturally radical – and what really blows us away about these tunes is the overall sense of sound – a simple, but extremely effective placement of all the simplest elements, to create music without easy comparison (even though we've been trying for the last few lines!) Group members include percussionist Ruben Rada and South American rock legend Eduardo Mateo – and the package features 16 tracks by El Kinto – plus 6 more by related artists The Knights, Aldo Y Daniel, and Roberta Lee. The whole thing's done in beautiful Soul Jazz-style packaging – with a huge extra booklet inside a slipcase alongside the CD. Titles include "Jose", "Mejor Me Voy", "Estoy Sin Ti", "Muy Lejos Te Vas", "Esa Tristeza", "Don Pascual", "Damelo", "Pippo", "Yo Volvere Por Ti", "Como El Brillo Del Sol", "La Felicita", and "Penas De Sal". CD